iPhone 5S Might Include Fingerprint Sensor on the Home Button

Count this among the first of what is sure to be a whole heap of expectations for whatever new iPhone Apple throws at us this year – an analyst from KGI Securities is saying that the ‘iPhone 5S’ could come with a fingerprint sensor on the home button.

Ming-Chi Kuo has stated that this is possible thanks to Apple buying up AuthenTec, a company working on fingerprinting technology. According to Kuo and an Apple Insider report, the new fingerprint sensor could be used as an eventual replacement for user names and passwords, although it’s hard to say in what capacity that would be possible outside of your Apple account, because of all the third parties that would need to be involved in making that happen. Given Apple’s recent track record with new services (see: Siri, Maps), it’s unlikely that the feature would be fully fleshed out at launch, but it could prove to be more useful a year or two down the road, on future models of the iPhone.

A fingerprint sensor would be a more reliable way of securing accounts, if the technology were to be implemented properly. Time will tell, but with Apple suffering a couple knocks to its once sterling reputation (and with a stock price that’s not quite looking as hot as it used to), it’s safe to say Apple had better make sure they get this one right the first time. It’s hard to say just how many users the new tech will bring in, but with security being a hot issue these days, it might be a smart angle to take. Putting the fingerprinting technology on a physical button instead of on-screen is a little more secure, too, and is probably a smart move, should it prove to be true. Then again, this is an early iPhone rumor, and I think at this point we all know how wildly inaccurate those can be.